Urgency and Virtues of Adoption: Religious Ruling
Love and care of others and those in need is a central principle in Islam. This is the first in a series of articles on from the course Why Adopt? The Urgency, Virtues, and Practical Steps to Adoption.
There is a great misconception. Many people will say that adoption is prohibited in Islam and this is a mistake. Adoption has two levels of rulings in the Sacred Law.
At the level of the individual, it is a virtuous, praiseworthy act (mustahabb). No one is obligated to adopt. But the act of adopting is an act that is pleasing to Allah and it is rewarded. That is not the only ruling with respect to adoption. Adoption is also a collective obligation socially.
As Muslims, we have two types of responsibility: personal duties and collective duties. Personally, we are responsible for believing, praying, fasting, doing what is lawful, and avoiding what is prohibited, etc.
We also have collective duties which are everything that safeguards the fundamental good, worldly and spiritual, in society. We share in the collective obligation for its fulfillment. Everything that upholds the collective good in all its aspects: social, economic, political, and spiritual.
Communal Obligations
These communal obligations are just as obligatory as what is personally obligatory except that not everyone has to fulfill every collective obligation because we cannot. The things that are required in society to uphold the good are numerous. However, as individuals, the least of faith is that one must wish for the fulfillment of every social good and the prevention of every social harm.
If in society, there is any collective obligation that is not fulfilled then everyone shares in the moral culpability and sin of it is non-fulfillment. Some people are poor and their need is not being attended to: the alleviation of poverty. That is a non-fulfillment of a collective obligation. If there are people who are oppressed or marginalized and there are not sufficient people taking the means to address that, there is collective culpability as well.
Numerous examples exist. The jurists mention if people bring chickens in cages that are too constrained (there are too many chickens in the cage) then the person who does that is individually culpable. But there is a collective obligation that can be addressed. This is part of the role of government as well, to ensure that these things are taken care of. There is a there is a societal duty for everybody because the government cannot and will not do everything. And the government is not a substitute for this sense of collective obligation.
There are many other examples. Amongst these is that if there are children in need of someone to take care of them and to raise them such that without that their needs, interests, and well-being would not be properly attended to, then this too is a collective obligation. If it is unfulfilled there is a shared collective sin in its non-fulfillment.
The Prohibited Adoption
So there is a personal ruling and a collective ruling regarding adoption unequivocally. The source of confusion is very straightforward, many people will say well adoption is prohibited in Islam. The adoption that is prohibited is a very particular type of adoption. For a number of wisdoms, it is prohibited. This is when someone ascribes a child to themselves as being their own child and negates their being the child of someone else. There are a number of wisdoms with respect to that.
However, what is not just permitted but praiseworthy and a collective obligation is guardianship (kafala). In guardianship, the role of the adopting parent is that they have taken on the responsibility and the authority (as they have to make decisions on behalf of the child) of raising the child, taking care of their best interests etc.
As the Quran makes clear, one treats them as part of one’s family and that is highly encouraged. The basis of both the limitation and permission of this is actually from the prophetic practice itself. The verses related to the prohibition of a certain type of adoption relate to someone the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) himself had adopted.
Parent and Guardian
If the Arabs adopted someone, they would name as their own. Zaid Ibn Haritha was adopted by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). He was referred to as Zaid ibn Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace).
When the command came to ascribe them to their own parents, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not disavow Zaid, but he was now simply ascribed to be the child of his actual parents, but he continued to be under the guardianship of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).
When he was older, Zaid was given the option: Do you wish to remain with the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) or do you wish to go back to your own parents? He chose the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). From that, we see the distinct role between a parent and a guardian.
